Virgil, It's Riche
by Psyco Meowmix
Summary: Who knew that a single phone call could change everything, and why does Ebon care? If you squint possible VirgilRiche but mostly just friendship. Racism bashing, hospitals, end result of child abuse


Okay this is a floating one-shot, just a scene from nowhere I wrote up.

Un-Beta'd.

Warnings: Hints of BoyxBoy if you look, Mild cursing, End result of Child Abuse

Hope you like!

Disclaimer: I own the world! ... okay seriously I don't own Static Shock.

Virgil's cell phone fell to the earth far below him after Shanon's call. As he flew on his disk at speeds he had never achieved before he thought back on the conversation that had just shaken his world.

_Static Shock was floating through town, just doing a normal sweep when his cell went off. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, which was easy, as it would be a bit hard to hide at a couple hundred feet off the ground. "Hey. What's up?"_

_It seemed odd to hear his sister's voice coming over the phone. He had expected it to be Riche, or maybe Riche's alter ego Gear. Her voice was shaking and she was obviously crying, "Virgil."_

_Concerned Static stopped scanning the sky's and turned his full attention to his sister, "Yes Shannon?"_

"_It's Riche."_

_Static blinked, "Huh? What's Riche?"_

"_Oh Virgil, I was bring around lunch at the hospital, when I saw him." A sense of dread had lodged itself in his stomach, a shiver of premonition some might say. But not Riche, he didn't believe in stuff like that. _

_I didn't interrupt her though, "He's in the intensive care ward. There were so many machines, and all that bleeping, he was so pale. I read his sheet, I know I shouldn't have but …it's Riche." _

"_He was brought into the hospital from massive blood loss, he was attacked on his way home by some Bangbaby, and now he's in a coma. He, Virgil, they think he might be brain dead, and, and I heard, I heard his father and the Doctor talking. Virgil, his father wants to take him off life support."_

_Anything Shannon might have said after that was lost as the phone slipped from numb fingers and began falling to the ground. When it finally reached the ground, Virgil had already made it all the way across town to the hospital Shannon volunteered at, a trip that normally took fifteen minutes._

Virgil ran into the hospital's lobby, straight up to the receptionists. He grabbed the edge of her desk, sparks running over his fingers as he glared at the shocked woman. "Where is Richard Foley?"

The receptionist's still in shock from having the local hero suddenly showing up in her hospital apparently pissed about something merely said, "Room 314." Before watching the teens back fly down the hallway to the nearest set of stairs.

No one noticed an older receptionist calling someone in the after math of Static's departure.

Several nurses and a doctor had collected in the young boy's room. It was a sad sight, the boy was linked up to various machine's keeping him alive, but the machine showing brain waves a straight line and never wavered.

Doctor Willis knew what that meant. The line was a lot higher than normal on the screen, but without the normal fluctuations it was obvious that there was nothing going on in the boy's head.

People's brains sent off different amounts of electricity when they thought, the more complex the thought the higher the line would go, and the simpler the thoughts the lower the line would go. No one's brain stayed at a constant level, even one as high as the one shown on the machine, the line was similar to what I always thought a computer would look like.

The boy's family stood to one side off the room, the mother was covering her mouth with a handkerchief, and the father was standing next to her silently. If their signs of mourning seemed odd to him, he brushed it off.

People grieved in different ways, and no one should have to decide whether or not to pull the plug of their child. They had decided too, a little faster than most, but different people had different views on life support, they probably where just of the section that didn't support it, or couldn't afford it.

I recorded the last set of data for the boy, making sure nothing had changed before preparing to shut down the machines. I hated days like these, I had known from the start that with was going to be a bad day.

As my hand moved to turn off the ventilator the door of the room blew into the room explosively, luckily remaining on its hinges, well at least part of one of them, sort of.

Doctor Willis stared as the young hero, Static Shock swept into the room, not unlike a thunderstorm. The boy, still wearing his mask had obviously been crying, and his mental state could be seen in the many arcs of electricity arching around his body.

Static quickly walked over to the bed, taking the other boy's hand, "Riche. Come on bro' this isn't you, when I left you in your room you where fine." Static's dark brown eyes snapped to him, I swallowed uncomfortably seeing the power even in the boy's eyes, "What happened?"

I didn't even think as I answered, to stunned by the young hero's presence, and slightly scared by all the power arching over him. "He was brought into the hospital earlier suffering severe internal and external bleeding which lead into a heart attack."

"His parents brought him saying he came in the front door with the wounds, saying that they believed it was one of the boy's friends, a gang member, who had hurt him. After surgery the boy slipped into a coma. Ever since his brain waves haven't fluctuated, he appears to be brain dead, and the parents are against life-support so the boy is being taken off life-support."

He shivered at the deep anger reflected in those two charged filled eyes, "Bullshit. Richie was fine when I left a couple of hours ago. He didn't even go in the front door. He went in the window, and told me he'd be busy all day working on some schematics."

"And you," the hero's eyes left his swinging to the parents on the other side of the room, "You wouldn't care if he did walk into the house with a bloody sword through his stomach, you'd have yelled at him for getting blood on the carpet. You never cared about Riche."

Willis felt a sense of dread as Static fell silent for a moment; his eyes took in the couple again. They were angry, but they weren't as shocked as they should have been, and their actions, taking their boy off life support not even a couple of hours after he went on it…

Static's voice broke the tense silence, "You did it didn't you." The youths voice cracked as he held the comatose boy's hand tighter, "You only yelled before, maybe slapped him once or twice."

"He made me promise not to tell, he said it wasn't that big of a deal and I believed him," the hero's obvious self-hatred in these words startled me, "What set you off to do this? Where his grades to high? His room had dust in it? Did he have too much fun hanging out with his friends?"

Mr. Foley's face was a deep red as he glared at Static Shock, "It's all his Nigger friend's fault. If the boy had just left him alone like we told him to, none of this would have happened. Virgil's a Nigger and gang member I'm sure of it!"

Static's voice echoed off the walls as he tore the mask from his face, "I'm not a freaking gang member you bigoted asshole." The face reveled was young, younger than I would have guessed, I stared in shock at the young hero's face.

They all stood there staring/glaring at each for several minutes before a new voice came from the door. "Static."

Everyone's eyes turned to the man in the door way, and my stomach fell again in fear. Static/Virgil's eyes soon left the new form though, turning back to his friend. "Go away Ebon." Static/Virigil's voice was soft as he addressed the most dangerous bangbaby out there.

I moved to press myself more against the wall as instead Ebon walked into the room, "Is this him?"

"Who?" Static/Virigil's voice was small, almost like he was already giving up, giving up to what I didn't know.

"Gear."

In that moment I felt my heart stop, this poor comatose boy, the hero Gear? Static Shock's constant companion the young genius, inventor and fellow crime fighter?

"Yes."

Ebon nodded, not that Static could see it, before pulling out a cell phone, holding it to his ear. "Talon, send out a call. I want to know who hurt Richie Foley, how he got at our hero, and why he's still breathing."

Static/Virigil's eyes left Riche as he turned to the powerful Ebon, "What are you doing?" There was an edge in his voice, a very dangerous one.

Ebon flipped the phone closed ending the call, "Sending out a bounty for whoever did this."

Static/Virigil's voice was obviously confused as he asked, "Why?"

Ebon's eyes met with his flashing, "Because you two are heroes, Dakota's Heroes, Our Hero's. Metroplis has Superman, Jump City The Teen Titans, Joker Batman, Despero The Green Lantern. Dakota and the BangBabies have Static Shock and Gear. If you left, we could take the town in days, maybe a week at the longest, but you give us something to prove ourselves against.

"If we beat you, it shows that we can take on the world, if you win, we fight another day."

"It's how it works, and any fool knows you don't kill a Superhero, its worse than killing a cop. At least cops have jurisdictions and some are expected to die. One of you dies, and ever Superpower out their will converge on this city and clean us out, 'in honor of their memories,' or some shit like that."

"All that really matters is that if you two die, we're screwed, you leave, we're screwed, and you give us a rep. If a Bangbabies taken down by cops, they hide, their taken down by you two? They brag."

"HotShot wouldn't stop either. So someone hurt Gear, they got to pay before ever superpower out there descends on us. As long as I run this city no one will touch your families, and no one will kill you, because that's the fastest way to slit our own damned throats."

Static/Virigil blinked at him, "You go near my family or Gear and I'll kill you. I don't care what you do with Gear's parents."

"Did they do it?"

"Yes."

"Can you prove it?"

Static/Virigil's grin wasn't a nice superhero smile, "Yes."

Ebon nodded, turning to Mr. and Ms. Foley, "I recommend Dakota's Jail. Good place, been there myself, I have several friends there currently."

He gave Static/Virigil a once over before taking out his phone again. "Joker, what's the bat's number now? Yes I know it's hard to get. Try getting the number when you don't know who they are. Yes he'll change it. One of my hero's is injured and the other's in shock. Thanks Joker, owe you one."

Static/Virgil's eyes didn't move towards one of the most powerful villains in Dakota as he redialed his phone, "Hello Batman, this is Ebon from Dakota, one of Static and Gears major villains. I got it from Joker, man's pissed about having to get the number again after you change it again."

"There's been a situation, Gear's in a coma, and Static's in the same room as the people that put Gear there. Dakota Central Room 314, Gear's Parents. He could do what to the medical equipment?"

Ebon glanced at the life support equipment that was acting a little off, "Keep him distracted? Hell you better get here quick I'm going to want Hotstreak back in one piece." Ebon looked down at the phone, "Well, bye then."

Snorting he pressed the first speed dial on his phone, "Hey Hotstreak feel like getting your ass kicked for a bit by a pissed Static? You should get at least one free shot in. All right I'll pick you up." Ebon again closed his phone, but this time he tucked it away before enlarging his shadow as Hotstreak stepped through.

Hotstreak cracked his knuckles, "Alright one free shot?"

Ebon nodded, Static was staring at Gear in a way that he probably didn't hear anything else. "Yeah, and I have a portal open to the old junk yard for you too."

"Gear's going to be okay right? 'Cause I don't have that much of a death wish."

"He'll be fine, Linda told me that he appeared brain dead, but Medic said that a stable high line should be expected as Gear's mind doesn't do simple thoughts because of the bang. Even when he's thinking about little stuff, part of his brain is trying to build the next super computer or something."

HotStreak smiled, "Cool. I am so going to enjoy this then."

Hotstreak walked over next to the unresponsive Hero. Hotstreak cocked his hand back, "Hey Hero," When Static didn't respond he let loose.

Static slammed into the far wall back first, before turning electrical filled eyes at Hotstreak. Hotstreak's smile grew even more deranged as he taunted the hero, "Catch me if you can." Hotstreak then belted into the portal Ebon had created, Static following in a mad rage.

When Static was gone Ebon turned to the portal himself disappearing for a moment before he came back with Shiv. Ebon smiled at the younger not quite sane boy, "Hey Shiv, you see those two people over there?"

Shiv nodded wildly.

"Why don't you go keep them company?"

Shiv's smile grew to a level at that should be impossible, before darting over to the cowering couple and wrapping his arms around there shoulders, "Hey want to see something cool?"

Shiv didn't wait for their answer as he proceeded to turn his hands into various sharp edged weapons, rather close to the two parent's throats. Seemingly oblivious to the fear the couple was putting out.

Ebon sighed leaning against the wall before looking over at me, "Well doc, aren't you going to check the equipment Static's electricity messed up or," his eyes turned dark and dangerous as I jumped from my position at the wall to check over my apparently superhero patient as his one of his archenemies watched my every move.

I really shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.


End file.
